Fanfares of trumpets do not announce turning points in securities markets.
Since mid-year, financial markets have been volatile. Moves of plus or minus 1% to 2% a day and even larger intraday moves have been common. Equity markets have lost around $10 trillion in value, equivalent to around 15% of global gross domestic product, during this period.
Pundits have offered multiple explanations for the gyrations: commodity prices, overleveraged commodity-trading firms, China, uncertainty about U.S. interest rates and computerized trading. The reality is that no one really knows. There is no clear single factor that appears to have triggered the price falls. Perhaps the market simply ran out of momentum and investors lost confidence.
